The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
HISTORY
AND PRESENT STATUS
Biological diversity - or biodiversity - is the term
given to the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms.
This
diversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals
and microorganisms. So far, about 1.75 million species have been identified, mostly
small creatures such as insects. Scientists reckon that there are actually about
13 million species, though estimates range from 3 to 100 million.
Biodiversity
also includes genetic differences within each species - for example, between varieties
of crops and breeds of livestock. Chromosomes, genes, and DNA-the building blocks
of life-determine the uniqueness of each individual and each species.
Yet
another aspect of biodiversity is the variety of ecosystems such as those that
occur in deserts, forests, wetlands, mountains, lakes, rivers, and agricultural
landscapes. In each ecosystem, living creatures, including humans, form a community,
interacting with one another and with the air, water, and soil around them.
It
is the combination of life forms and their interactions with each other and with
the rest of the environment that has made earth a uniquely habitable place for
humans. Biodiversity provides a large number of goods and services that sustain
our lives.
At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed
on a comprehensive strategy for "sustainable development" -- meeting
our needs while ensuring that we leave a healthy and viable world for future generations.
One of the key agreements adopted at Rio was the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This pact among the vast majority of the world's governments sets out commitments
for maintaining the world's ecological underpinnings as we go about the business
of economic development. The Convention establishes three main goals: the conservation
of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and
equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources.
One
of the most important targets of the Convention is to achieve by 2010 a significant
reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and
national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of
all life on earth.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development subsequently
endorsed this target.
The Conference of the Parties adopted a framework
to facilitate the assessment of progress towards 2010 and communication of this
assessment, to promote coherence among the programmes of work of the Convention
and to provide a flexible framework within which national and regional targets
may be set, and indicators identified.
OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND COOPERATING
ORGANISATIONS
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is the
National Focal Point.
GENERAL COMMENTS
South Africa's policies and
programmes recognise that the conservation of biodiversity goes hand in hand with
meeting its social and economic obligations as contained in the JPOI, Nepad and
the UN Millennium Development Goals.
As required by Article 6 of the CBD,
South Africa has developed a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The
Cabinet approved the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003
(Act 57 Of 2003) and approved the establishment of the South African National
Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Furthermore the Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism launched the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (NSBA) - the
first-ever-comprehensive spatial evaluation of biodiversity throughout the country
during the first part of 2005.
A National Biodiversity Committee has been
established to promote the implementation of the CBD at the national, provincial
and local levels of government.
South Africa participated in the eighth
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Curitiba,
Brazil and welcomed the progress made with the programme of work on forest biodiversity.
South Africa also attended and participated in the first, second third Meeting
of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
3. CARTAGENA PROTOCOL
ON BIOSAFETY
The Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) is an information exchange
mechanism established by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to assist Parties
to implement its provisions and to facilitate sharing of information on, and experience
with, living modified organisms (LMOs). A Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) was established
to facilitate an information exchange mechanism established by the Cartagena Protocol
on Biosafety to assist Parties to implement its provisions and to facilitate sharing
of information on, and experience with, living modified organisms (LMOs).
The
BCH is essential for the successful implementation of the Protocol. It assists
Parties and other stakeholders in different ways in the implementation of the
Protocol. For example, it provides a "one-stop shop" where users can
readily access or contribute relevant biosafety-related information. This would
assist Governments to make informed decisions regarding the importation or release
of LMOs. Information in the BCH is owned and updated by the users themselves,
this ensuring its timeliness and accuracy.
South Africa's position
The
South African government adopted a national biotechnology strategy in 2001, committing
an initial R450 million from 2004 to 2007 for biotechnology development. The strategy
highlights the importance of a "bio-economy" calling for the development
of commercially viable biotechnology products. The strategy identified biotechnology
as potential contributing to national priorities of access to and affordability
of health care, food security job creation and environmental protection. South
Africa has made huge strides in the development of agricultural biotechnology
and presently approximately 500 000 hectare are under genetic modified crops.
The
South African biosafety framework is robust and multi sectorial. The genetically
Modified Organisms Act 15 of 1997, implemented from 1999 is the primary Act that
regulates all activities with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are
also covered by environmental and health related legislation.
The Department
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) has been mandated to ensure environmental
responsibility through the development of an effective biosafety system that foster
the safe use of technology while protecting the integrity of the environment.
To do this, DEAT has created its own regulatory framework, which includes:
